A Latchy Link Up

The other day Linda posted about all the different latches at her place and I thought it was such a great thing to post about.
Like Linda we have cone up with a few free, recycled and creative latches.

There are the chicken pen gates
Gate 1

The bolt on this came from something else and we bent it then added it to our home made gate

Gate 2

This is an actual gate chain but we have modified the top if a star picket (metal fence post)
to make it so it can latch over

Gate 3

The rope latch

Gate 4

Another rope latch on another home made gate

The gate into the back paddock which is also where we bring in the fire wood after driving through the paddocks.

Another home made gate and an old gate chain that is wired to the gate and held
in place by a carabina

The gate into the neighbours paddock

This is just a wire loop that holds a wire gate to the post by looping over the top

The gates between the paddocks
Gate 1

Another gate chain that has a carabina attached.  For a quick shut of the gate it is loop over the wire loop
but you can also lock the carabina through the chain.

Gate 2

This is what is called a cocky gate latch

The side gate

A simple s hook and a bit of chain does the trick here

There are also a few gates with proper gate latches on them but over all very few of our gate latches have been purchased and they all do the job just fine.

When doing this I also noticed that we have a lot of home made gates but I think that is a whole different post.

What sort of locks and latches do you have at your place?

The Weekend Kitchen - Herman Style

Over the weekend I finally got to make my first Herman the German Friendship Cake.

When reading the recipe I suspected that the cake would be too sweet for our tastes but I thought I should make it as per the recipe to start with and modify it from there.

Well I was right it was too sweet for my liking but that is not to say it is not tasty because it is.  In fact the cake really moist and the inclusion of the fruit made it much more interesting.  I used plain yogurt to tone down the sugar but I will make some adjustments next time I make it.  I also cooked mine for longer at only 160 degrees fan forced.

Overall I thought it was very tasty and I really liked the big chunks of apple.  I am looking forward to experimenting with some of the other flavour combinations.

What flavour do you make?

Awsome Vegetarian Black Bean Nachos

Something we have been focused on this year is eating more meat free meals. We are both meat lovers and neither of us would choose to be a vegetarian. We raise much of our own meat and where we don't we try to make ethical choices. But like most things in life you need to find a balance and for us this means aiming for at least one meat free dinner per week.  Sometimes we miss the mark and some weeks like this week we had two meat free dinners, an omelette and black bean nachos.

The omelette used eggs, silverbeet, spring onions and asparagus from the garden along with capsicum, mushrooms and cheese.  With the glut of eggs we have at the moment it made a quick, healthy and easy meal after a long day at work.

The nachos recipe took a bit longer but was extremely tasty (so tasty that there were no photos taken) and is something we will eat again.  I used 1/2 cup of dried black beans that I had soaked and precooked but you could also use a tin of black beans instead.

Vegetarian Black Bean Nachos

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Dried Black Beans

1 Brown Onion finely diced

1/2 Capsicum

1/2 Large Green Chilli finely diced

3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp Ground Cumin

1 Tsp Oregano

1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika

1 1/2 Cups of Diced Tomatoes or 1 tin of Diced Tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

Chopped Coriander leaves to garnish

In a large saucepan cook the onions in the oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes then add the garlic, chilli and capsicum and cook for another 2 minutes.  Then add all your spices (except the salt) and cook for 2 minutes stirring all the time to cook out your spices.  Add your beans, tomato and salt and cook until the mixture has thickened/reduced to your desired consistency.

Serve garnished with coriander with your choice of corn chips, taco shells guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos, fresh tomato salsa, salad or anything else you fancy.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.  You can leave out the chilli if you do not want any heat or increase it if you want it hot.

What vegetarian meals have you made lately?

Do you have a favourite vegetarian meal?

Collecting And Using Animal Manure

When you own livestock you have access to a very valuable commodity.  Their Poo.

I doesn't matter if you have cows, horses, donkeys, alpacas, sheep, goats or chickens they all poo and if you can collect it you can use it to add fertility to your garden.

We like to collect lots of cow poo out of our paddock every few months and fill one of our compost bays. When we last filled up the compost bay it took about 8 wheel barrow loads to fill it.  We then give it a good water an leave it to break down for a couple of months making sure to keep it damp.

The bay to the right currently has a mixed compost in it and to this we add the chicken manure from the chicken house.  We use a layer of wood shavings under their perches to collect all of the droppings on. When we clean out the chicken house we add it to the compost pile and give it a good mix.

Mushroom compost in the left bay
Cow poo in the center
Mixed compost in the right bay

Different types of manure need to be treated differently.  Here is a bit of an overview.

Although lower in organic matter than other traditional manures, alpaca manure has a lot of value in the garden. It does not need to be aged or composted before use and you can spread it directly onto garden plants without burning them. Best of all, it does not contain any weed seeds

Sheep manure is referred to as cold manure because of its low nitrogen content. This makes it an excellent addition to any garden.  Sheep manure can also be used as organic mulch. Because of its low odor, sheep manure can easily be used to top dress garden beds.  It is high in both phosphorus and potassium, essential elements for optimal plant growth.

Horse manure is a good source of nutrients and a popular addition to many home gardens. Composting horse manure can help your compost pile become super charged however horse manure may also contain more weed seeds. For this reason, it is usually better to use composted horse manure in the garden. The heat produced from composting can effectively kill most of these seeds as well as any harmful bacteria that may be present.Fresh manure should not be used on plants to prevent the possibility of burning their roots.

Cattle manure is basically made up of digested grass and grain (depending on what they are fed). Cow dung is high in organic materials and rich in nutrients. It contains about 3 percent nitrogen, 2 percent phosphorus, and 1 percent potassium.  It’s usually recommended that it be aged or composted prior to its use 

Using goat manure in garden beds can create the optimal growing conditions for your plants. The naturally dry pellets are not only easy to collect and apply, but are less messy than many other types of manure. Goats not only produce neater pelletized droppings, but their manure doesn't typically attract insects or burn plants as does manure from cows or horses. Goat manure is virtually odorless and is beneficial for the soil.

Chicken manure for vegetable garden fertilizing is excellent, but there are some things you need to know about it in order to use it correctly. Chicken manure fertilizer is very high in nitrogen and also contains a good amount of potassium and phosphorus. The high nitrogen and balanced nutrients is the reason that chicken manure compost is the best kind of manure to use.  But the high nitrogen in the chicken manure is dangerous to plants if the manure has not been properly composted. Raw chicken manure fertilizer can burn, and even kill, plants if used. Composting chicken manure mellows the nitrogen and makes the manure suitable for the garden.

Do you collect poo from your animals?
How do you use it?

The Weekend Kitchen

Over the weekend we were quite busy but I did have time to make another batch of Coriander and Macadamia Nut Pesto (my favourite kind of pesto)which we have been eating a lot of over the last few weeks.

It is getting too hot here to grow coriander in the garden and from now on I will have to grow it in the shade house otherwise it just bolts to seed.  So with this in mind I have been making lots of pesto and if I can keep it away from Hubby I will even get to freeze some.

I kind of make this recipe up as I go along as sometimes it needs adjusting depending on if the coriander has gone a bit bitter from being old and you can reduce the garlic if you don't like a big hit.  You can substitute the coriander for parsley, basil, mint or rocket in full or use a combination of them.  You can also change the type of nuts you use and add chilli for some heat if you like.  Pesto should always be made to your taste but this is the basic recipe I follow.

Coriander Pesto

4 Cups of Coriander
1 Cup of Macadamia Nuts
2 Cloves of Garlic
3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan
1 1/2 Cups of Olive Oil (Plus extra to cover)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the coriander, nuts, garlic and parmesan in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped stopping to scrape down the sides a few times.  Then with the motor running add the salt and pepper and then the oil in a steady stream and mix to a paste.
Pack into jars or containers and top with a layer of olive oil before sealing and freezing or refrigerating.

Do you make pesto?  What is your favourite kind?